


faint hearted

by assclassination (celexte)



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:22:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9533612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celexte/pseuds/assclassination
Summary: karma and manami meet.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i love karumana so much ;;___;;;; im gonna try n write more in the future

Class 3-A.

Maybe it was only her chemistry prowess that got her into the prestigious class, because Manami Okuda really wasn’t any good at all.

First day of school: her voice trembles a little when she stands up to introduce herself. The other students listed off a million accomplishments, but when she opens her mouth, she’s left wordless. Finally, she whispers out (the teacher leans over her desk to hear) “...Manami Okuda. I, um, like chemistry,” She takes a seat, and feels pitiful.

Next student. Next student. The last student stands up, and Manami glances to the side to see who they are. A boy, with a shock of red hair, says, “I’m Karma Akabane,” and sits down. The class murmurs in hushed whispers, and Karma Akabane flicks her eyes to her. And smiles.

As class drags on, day by day, she doesn’t exactly know why people crowd around Karma like moths to a flame. Maybe it’s his red hair, gold eyes, but he looks exactly like a sunset in autumn. During breaks, as Manami pores over her chemistry textbook, her peers form groups and some flit over to Karma. He entertains them, as he always does, and she can hear them from all the way across the room. Once, she hears him laugh loudly, for the first time, and she looks up, blinking. Her eyes catch Karma’s, and he pauses, smiling genuinely for a moment. Then his eyes turn back to the girl he’s talking to. “...I think she’s cool,” Manami hears him say. She turns back to her book.

At lunch, she always hides somewhere in the back of the cafeteria, and after eating, she goes to the library - somewhere around the science section. It’s a habit, she supposes. But today, when she walks where the shelf of chemistry books are, she finds Karma Akabane sitting cross-legged in the middle of the way, studying electronegativity.

Despite herself, her breath catches in her throat, and he slowly turns his gaze up, eyes half-lidded and cheek resting on his hand. “Hey there,” he says, “Okuda-san.”

“You, um,” Manami sputters, clinging tighter to her backpack, “remember me?”

“Of course,” he says, standing up (she sees now how tall he is, and how limber and graceful-looking he is) and putting the book back on the shelf. “The girl who scored straight 100’s in the science category, how could I forget her?”

Not knowing quite what to say, she puts her backpack on the ground. “...Why are you here?”

“Oh?” Karma leans on the bookshelf, tilting his head onto a shoulder. “I just knew I’d find you here, is all. Would you like me to leave?”

“No. No, no, it’s fine,” Manami says, sitting on the carpeted library floor. Karma obliges, and sits down too. “...I’m, how do you say it, glad to have some company.”

Karma doesn’t speak for a moment as he traces a finger down the editions of science textbooks. “Me too.”

So things were good for a while. Karma sometimes dropped by the library, sometimes didn’t, but all Manami knew was that he was coming by more often.

“Are you bored or something?” she asked him curiously, and he just smiled. 

Unlike the unexpected friendship, class didn’t go so well for Manami. Chemistry is fine. Chemistry is always fine. She gets back her grades for English one day and has the urge to throw her science textbook across the room. The next day, she is passed back a twenty three on her history exam, and she can’t seem to blink back her tears so easily this time. The pages crumple where tears stain it, and the red ink bleeds.

Today, she doesn’t want to go home.

“What happened?”

Karma catches her on her walk home - she decided not to take the bus back, and she meets Karma on the way, his house must be close. His voice is flat as he continues. “I didn’t see you in the library today.”

“Sorry,” she says. She keeps walking.

“What happened,” he presses. 

“I’m a bit stressed, is all,” Manami brushes it off. “Finals, right?” She forces a laugh.

“Okuda-san,” Karma says.

She looks at him from the corner of her eye, and his brows are furrowed, hair messy and falling over his eyes. “I’m sorry, Akabane-san.”

Words go unsaid: I might not see you again.

By this time, she arrives at her house. Weakly, she raises a hand and waves, too tired to keep up her cheerful facade. Walking up the steps, she turns back. Karma’s staring at her, hands stuffed in his pockets. He’s not smiling.

Later, she goes outside to check the mailbox, fishes out a solitary letter. It says exactly what it says. She’s so tired that she forgets to care, and falls asleep immediately.

 

Class 3-E.

Is it really worth it, she thinks to herself, to go to class when everyone else scorns your existence. Maybe she should just stay home.

But she doesn’t. She drags herself out of bed, puts on her uniform, and walks up the hill to Class 3-E. Maybe she should have told Karma. She imagines him waiting in the library for her, alone, and dismisses the thought immediately.

As usual, she quietly takes a seat in the back. The classroom is dilapidated, to say the least, and the wooden chair squeaks as she sits down.

The students file in, and they all have the same dull look in their eyes. Manami feels as if she’s attending a funeral.

Lastly, a familiar redhead almost glides through the door, and takes a seat in front of her. She’s staring, wide-eyed, hand covering her mouth. He turns, his smile feline. “Hey there, Okuda Manami-san.”

“What are you doing here?” she whispers nervously.

“I thought I’d find you here,” he says steadily, staring at her. She shivers. “Why, would you like me to leave?”

“No,” Manami murmurs, feeling a sense of deja vu. “...It’d be nice to have some company.”

“I just want you to know,” Karma murmurs, “you didn’t do anything wrong at all.”

Manami doesn’t quite understand, but she nods anyway. Karma turns around to face the front then, and she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

 

She returns to the main campus with Karma. He’s pensive as they walk, the only sound being the scuffing of their shoes on the pavement.

“You always have a place here, Okuda-san,” Karma says to her offhandedly. He stops before the gates - the sky turning shades of orange and gold. The campus is empty and silent. “Please don’t doubt yourself.”

“Easy for you to say,” she says. “You’ll get back here soon enough.”

He turns abruptly and continues walking along the sidewalk. Manami jogs to catch up. His eyes reflect sunlight, but they have a certain chill to them that is a bit frightening. After all this time, she still doesn’t quite understand him.

“I’ll miss you if you do,” she says, breaking the lull in their conversation.

“No,” he says. “I’m not leaving anytime soon. I think I’d miss us too much.”

Soon enough, they’re at Manami’s house, and Karma smiles at her, waving. "See you tomorrow, Okuda-san," he calls out. All her worries wash away.

 

December 25 is Karma’s birthday. She almost forgets it’s Christmas - she just remembers that this is the day when Karma is loneliest. On the way to the bus stop she picks up a box of chocolates, the kind that come in shiny wrappers and in different flavors. She smiles the whole bus ride, and when she arrives, knocks twice on Karma’s door. He’s wearing a black sweater and red pajama pants, and his hair is unbrushed. It gives him this strange boyish charm, and she almost forgets that he’s Karma Akabane. “Hey, Okuda-san,” he beams. “This is a surprise.” 

He invites her in, and she takes a seat on the couch. He turns on the fireplace and sits down beside her, a modest distance away. “Happy birthday,” she grins, holding out the chocolates to him. 

His golden eyes widen. “Chocolate,” he says wonderingly. “Thank you.” 

The way he unwraps the box is, curious, to say the least. He opens with bright eyes, like a child, as if he’s never received chocolates before. Manami’s sure he has, but Karma pops a chocolate in his mouth thoughtfully. “Sweet,” he mentions.

“The chocolate?”

He blinks. “No. No, I meant you, Okuda-san… the chocolates can’t compare.”

Manami smiles demurely at the floor, but Karma moves a little closer to her. Before she has a chance to look at him, his hand finds hers.


End file.
